Football Tour

Leeds City Boys Compete in Easter Open, Holland

Football Tours International are dedicated to providing professional football tours and training camps for teams of all ages and abilities, from all over the world & the UK.

West Yorkshire, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/03/2012 -- The Leeds Schools FA has just returned back from an international tournament in Holland. The Leeds City Boys took both the under 11s and the under 12s age group to participate in the Easter Open held in the south of the Netherlands.

For the second year running a group of 47 people including players, staff and parents travelled to the south of Holland via the Newcastle to Amsterdam overnight ferry to compete in one of the largest youth football festivals in Europe called the Easter Open.

Football Tour International (FTI), a local tour company was recruited for the second year running to help with the planning of the tour. FTI worked closely with the Leeds Schools FA secretary Jackie Batley to organise the whole trip from pick up to drop off at Leeds United’s Elland Road Satium.

Their job was to book everything from coach hire, overnight ferry crossing, half board accommodation and entrance for both teams into the Easter Open.

The Easter Open is a large international tournament that house over 100 teams from all over the world, ranging from under 9s to under 18s catering for both boys and girls. Due to age groupings over in Europe running by year group rather than school years like in the UK, the Leeds City Boys sides had to play up an age group that would test them physically as well as against the technically better European opposition.

The tournament matches were played at over 16 destinations spread out around the Nijmegen region of Holland. FTI had arranged for the group to stay at the Centre Parks Het Heidjerbos in villas of 6 – 8 people, The centre parks accommodation was ideal for the group as there was plenty for the players to do to let their hair down away from their tournament matches, this included bike hire, arcades and access to the Aqua dome that included wave machine, slides, rapids, plunge pool and much more.

The tournament matches were played on the Saturday and Sunday with both teams managing to finish second in their group after the first day of competition. This meant that both teams would compete in the A finals on the Sunday morning, unfortunately neither team could repeat their performances from the previous days which saw the U11 team finish the tournament 8th out of 18 teams and the U12s 6th out of 16. As each team played up an age group meaning some players were playing against opposition that could have been over a year older than themselves each individual can be very happy with their performance and be proud of their achievements

About Football Tours InternationalFootball Tour International (FTI) are dedicated to providing professional football tour and training camps for teams of all ages and abilities, from all over the world. We cater for recreational and professional teams, schools, colleges and universities, offering a reliable service throughout. Our aim is to work together to tailor your tour and ensure that your team has the best sports holiday and football experience possible.